Sweet Vengeance
by The Underestimated Truth
Summary: When Travis plays a prank on the Demeter cabin, Katie comes up with the most awesomely diabolical prank ever!


Sweet Vengeance

"STOLL!" I yelled furiously. My idiot boyfriend, Travis, had just pranked the Demeter cabin by setting a trap of rubber snakes to fall from the ceiling. While the rest of the kids screamed and ran, I had formed a plan. A plan so devious, a plan so diabolical, a plan so full of revenge, that it was worthy of Travis himself. However, the joke would be on him this time.

First, I would need the help of Leo Valdez. Not only would I need his craftsmanship, I would also need his control over fire and his mischievous personality. I knew he would never pass up on a chance to play a prank on a fellow trickster.

I walked up to the vault door of Cabin Nine and banged on it as hard as I could. "VALDEZ!" I shouted. "WE NEED TO TALK!" Immediately after I finished, the vault door opened, revealing a terrified-looking Leo Valdez covered in machine grease.

He looked at me, eyes full of fear. "I-I swear I didn't do it. It—it was Travis." I laughed. "Relax, Fire Boy. I need help. Mechanical help."

As soon as I said "mechanical," he grinned from ear to ear. "Come on in."

After a brief tour of the Hephaestus cabin, Leo took me down to his private underground room and took out some tools. "Okay," he said. "What can I do for you?" I looked him in the eye and answered, "Help me get some payback on Travis Stoll." He did his best evil smile. "What's the plan?"

My idea was that first, tonight, I would take a walk, just me and Travis, after dinner. Since we were boyfriend and girlfriend, I knew he wouldn't suspect anything.

Midway through the walk, I would slip a fake suicide note to him and run away. As he read it, I'd run to Nico at our meeting point and he'd shadow travel me to the top of Zeus' Fist. Once I was at the top, I'd make a big show of jumping off the top to commit suicide.

It would be around sunset, so no one would see my body hit the ground, but they'd hear the "thump" of a box of raspberries hitting the ground next to me. I'd use my chlorokinesis to control their fall.

My body would never hit the ground, because Jason would intercept me halfway through the fall and hide me at the edge of the woods.

Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Leo would make a big deal of finding the dummy at the bottom and pretending it was me. Then, they would carry the dummy over to the shroud that Leo had made and cover it. Then, Leo would set fire to it, like at every Camp Half-Blood burial, and Travis would be there, watching it burn.

The rest of camp would be in on it, and all would be present at my fake funeral.

Meanwhile, Nico would go over to the edge of the woods where I was hiding and shadow travel me to a spot about two feet behind Travis. As he grieved, I would spin him around and kiss him passionately. PRANK ACCOMPLISHED!

I also told Leo to make sure that the rest of the Hephaestus kids were in on the prank and that they knew about it.

As he started work on the shroud, I made my way over to Cabin Three to see Percy. I knew he would love the idea of pranking Travis, he had been a victim of his torture all too many times.

"OPEN UP, JACKSON!" I got no reply. _Oh well, _I thought. _Desperate times call for desperate measures._

I took a few steps back, and then launched into my best roundhouse kick, the door flying right off the hinges.

I peeked inside and immediately recoiled.

X

A shirtless Percy was making out with a very nonprofessional Annabeth, getting tangled in the sheets of his bed.

"FOR ZEUS' SAKE, WOULD YOU PUT ON A SHIRT!" I shouted. This time he heard me, loud and clear. He froze, and looked at me like a deer caught in headlights. "I—I can explain," he stammered, hastily putting on a shirt. Annabeth blushed beet red, straightening her shirt and tapping her fingers nervously. "Look," I started, "I need you guys to help me prank Travis Stoll."

I told them about what had happened this morning, and the plan of action for tonight's spectacle. Annabeth grinned like a psychopath; she had been waiting for this opportunity for months. "It's about time to get back at that bastard," Percy said.

For the next few hours, I visited every cabin, the arena, the Big House, and the mess hall, making sure everyone except Travis knew about the plan. It was going to be huge.

By the time I had notified everyone of what was going to happen, it was time for dinner. When I sat down at the Demeter table, lots of the other campers winked and smirked at me, knowing what was going to happen next.

I walked over to Travis and said, "Hey. Do you want to go for a walk?" He pushed back his chair and took my hand. "I'd love to."

As we neared the bend toward Zeus' Fist, I stopped walking, and so did he. "Is something wrong?" I looked at him reproachfully and said, "Look, Travis, I—I love you." I slipped the letter into his hand and ran away as fast as I could, not batting an eye as I went. I saw him open the letter, but didn't wait to see his reaction. I remembered exactly what I wrote:

_Dear Travis,_

_Things at Camp….they've just gotten to be too much for me._

_All that others have said and done has broken me inside, and….._

_There's nothing left. I remember the first time we met, when_

_I first came to camp and hated you._

_After a while, though, I really warmed up to you._

_Now, everything has just beaten down on me so hard, and _

_I don't think I can take it anymore._

_There's nothing left for me to live for at Camp Half-Blood, or anywhere else._

_I hope you can forgive me, Travis._

_I'm sorry._

_I love you._

_A final goodbye,_

_Katie Elise Gardner_

I tried to make the letter as sentimental as possible. I made it to the meeting spot, where Nico di Angelo was readily waiting for me. "Ready?" "Yep." He took my hand, and all I saw was blackness.

When my vision cleared, Nico and I were standing atop Zeus' Fist, beside a box of raspberries, my hair flying in the wind. It was pretty dark, so no one would see my silhouette against the dark cliff. "Wreak vengeance on Stoll," he said before shadow traveling to the edge of the woods, where Jason would take me.

Travis was near the dining pavilion, crying, "NO! KATIE! DON'T DO IT! PLEASE! I LOVE YOU!" It broke my heart a little to see him that way, but it was all in good fun. "I'm sorry, Travis!" I yelled. "I love you too!"

As I jumped off of the rock, I controlled the box of raspberries to fall beside me. I was about thirty feet from the ground when Jason grabbed me. I felt a _whoosh _of cool night air as we flew toward the forest. The landing was smooth, and I thanked Jason for the flight as he was whisked away by the wind.

Right when we landed, I heard the distant _thump _of the box of raspberries hitting the ground, and Travis screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

There was a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Nico grinning. "I didn't know you could be that evil," he told me. I looked at him in disbelief. "I can't believe you actually smiled."

I squinted my eyes and could just make out the shapes of Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Leo getting the dummy at the bottom of the cliff. I saw a tear fall down Annabeth's cheek and I thought, _Nice touch. _

Leo took out the shroud and covered the dummy in it. It was beautifully made, with green and brown and gold like sunlight shifting through branches. It fit perfectly on the dummy.

My fake funeral was an hour later. They set up the dummy by the campfire and the whole camp, even Mr. D, was there. Travis sat in the front, crying his eyes out. If this was normal, I immediately would have gone over to comfort him, but this was my revenge.

For pranking me, for pranking the Demeter cabin, for terrorizing the entire camp, Travis deserved this. Sure, maybe it was a little evil, but "all's fair in love and war."

Chiron started with, "We have lost a great camper today, Katie Elise Gardner. She was a courageous, loving, and brave young woman. We will be forever changed by her loss."

As Travis started sobbing again, Leo stepped forward and set fire to the dummy in the shroud. That was when Travis sank to his knees, weeping. That really put a pain in my chest.

_Here we go, _I thought. _The moment of truth._ Nico grasped my hand and shadow traveled me to behind Travis. Everyone looked at me and smirked even Chiron.

I tapped Travis on the shoulder. "What do you wa-KATIE!" He screamed, and enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. I looked him in the eye and grinned. "You just got pranked. Hard." A look of gradual realization dawned on his face. "You…." His face split into that gap-toothed smile I loved so much, and we kissed. It was a long, passionate kiss, and everyone around us clapped.

I pulled away and said to Travis, "That's what I call sweet vengeance."


End file.
